How to Stay in Israel After Onward Israel

Can you stay in Israel after Onward — and how? Yes, and for career-minded young adults it’s one of the best moves you can make. Your Onward internship was a two-month taste of working in Israel; the natural next step is a long-term Masa program of 4–10 months — especially a Masa internship or Fast Track Pro — which turns that taste into real, résumé-building experience and, often, a career. Best of all, you can roll straight from Onward into a long-term program — no waiting period — with a grant included, so the momentum (and the friendships) never have to stop.

You spent two months interning in Israel on Onward, and somewhere between your first day at the office and your last Friday-night dinner with the crew, it clicked: two months isn’t enough. You got a real taste of building a career here, of living in Tel Aviv, of belonging — and now you’re wondering how to stay in Israel after Onward and make it last.

Good news: you’re asking the right question, and the answer is exciting. This is the complete guide to extending your time, going long-term, and turning an internship summer into something much bigger — with the internship path, the eligibility rules, and the grant timing all laid out so you can plan your next move with confidence.

Can you stay in Israel after Onward?

Yes — and the best way to do it is to keep going. The opportunity Onward itself points its alumni toward is a long-term Masa program, where you live and work in Israel for 4 to 10 months with a proper visa, housing, community, and support all built in. You can even continue straight through with no waiting period, and with a grant included.

Since your Onward experience was built around an internship, the most natural next step is a longer, deeper internship — and that’s exactly what Masa specializes in. More on that below.

The real move: go long with a Masa program

Here’s where staying in Israel after Onward gets serious. If two months of interning left you wanting the real thing, a long-term Masa program is the answer — 4 to 10 months of living in Israel with your visa, housing, community, Hebrew, and support all handled, so you can focus entirely on the experience and the work.

This is a genuine step up from Onward, not a repeat of it. Where Onward is a summer-length introduction, a long-term Masa program is enough time to become fluent in an office, build a real professional network, watch your Hebrew take off, and turn an internship into a track record — sometimes into a full-time job offer. It’s the difference between sampling a career in Israel and launching one.

Why an internship is the perfect next step

You already know internships are the heart of the Onward experience — so lean into that strength. The single best way to stay in Israel after Onward is to go longer on exactly what you were already doing, at a deeper level.

A two-month internship shows you what’s possible. A 4-to-10-month Masa internship lets you cash it in: more responsibility, a real portfolio of work, references from an Israeli employer, and the kind of experience that reshapes your résumé and your career. Employers take a longer placement far more seriously than a summer one, and a striking number of long-term interns convert their placement into a job. If your Onward internship lit a professional fire, this is how you feed it. (For the bigger picture, see our guide to building a career in Israel.)

 

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Onward vs a long-term Masa internship

It helps to see exactly what changes when you go from Onward to a long-term Masa internship — because it’s a real leap, not just more of the same.

Onward proves you can work in Israel; a long-term Masa internship is where that turns into a career foundation. Those extra months are exactly what employers — and your future self — take seriously.

Turning your internship into a job

Here’s the payoff that makes staying in Israel after Onward worth it. A long-term internship is the most reliable on-ramp to a real job in Israel: employers treat long placements as extended tryouts, and an intern who’s already embedded, already knows the team, and already speaks some Hebrew is exactly who they hire when a role opens. And even if you don’t stay, you leave with Israeli work experience, real references, and an international network that opens doors back home. Two months can’t deliver that. Four to ten months can.

Masa internship programs and Fast Track Pro

Masa offers exactly the long-term, career-building internships that make sense after Onward:

• Masa Internship programs place you in a real role at an Israeli company for the long term, across fields like tech, business, marketing, finance, non-profit, and more — the deeper version of what you tasted on Onward. Our guides to jobs in Israel for English speakers and how to get a job in Tel Aviv show just how much opportunity is here.
• Masa Fast Track Pro is built for ambitious young professionals aiming straight at Israel’s high-tech world — the country is one of the top startup hubs on earth, employing hundreds of thousands in high-tech, and Fast Track Pro is designed to get you inside it.

Both give you the long runway that a two-month program can’t: enough time to prove yourself, grow, and build the network that turns an internship into a career. To picture the day-to-day, our guide to working in Israel covers the work week, culture, and what to expect.

What fields can you intern in?

One of the best reasons to stay in Israel after Onward through a long-term internship is the sheer range of fields open to you. Masa internship placements span high-tech and startups, business and consulting, marketing and communications, finance, engineering, law, medicine and healthcare, scientific research, non-profits, and government and policy. Whatever your Onward internship introduced you to — or whatever you wish it had — there’s a long-term placement to match, and the extra months let you go from observing a field to truly contributing in it.

Onward-to-Masa eligibility: what to know

Good news — the path from Onward to a long-term Masa program is simpler than it used to be:

• You can continue straight from Onward into a long-term Masa program. There’s no waiting period. You can go directly from your Onward experience into a 4-to-10-month program and keep your momentum going.
• The grant comes with it. Continuing directly from Onward into a long-term Masa program doesn’t cost you your funding — eligible participants receive a Masa grant on the long-term program, just as they would otherwise. No gap required, no deduction.
• You must meet Masa’s general eligibility, which mostly comes down to age, background, and program-specific requirements that vary by track.
• Confirm your specifics with Masa. Eligibility and funding always have some individual nuance, so it’s worth a quick check on your exact situation before you commit — but the headline is that going straight through is fully on the table, grant included.

The takeaway: you don’t have to fly home and wait. If you’re ready to keep going after Onward, you can move right into a long-term program without losing your grant.

How much does it cost, and what about grants?

Cost is a real part of deciding how to stay in Israel after Onward, so here’s the real picture. Long-term Masa programs are heavily subsidized for eligible participants, and most come with a grant, additional scholarships, and sometimes a stipend — which is what makes living and interning in Israel for months affordable. Crucially, that grant applies even if you continue straight from Onward, so going long-term doesn’t mean giving up funding.

Budget for your living costs on top of program fees — our cost of living in Israel guide breaks down what to expect in Tel Aviv and beyond. Run your specific numbers with Masa, since eligibility and funding vary by person and program.

Life as a long-term intern in Israel

Beyond the career upside, staying in Israel after Onward for the long term means truly living here — and that’s half the reward. You’ll have your own apartment, usually in or around Tel Aviv, and a built-in community of young adults from around the world who show up as strangers and leave as your closest friends. Your weeks settle into a rhythm: interning by day, ulpan sharpening your Hebrew, and weekends at the beach, hiking up north, or arguing over the best hummus in the shuk. Shabbat gives you a real weekly pause, the holidays follow the Jewish calendar, and slowly Israel stops feeling like a place you’re visiting and starts feeling like home. That shift — from guest to local — is something a two-month program only hints at, and it’s exactly what the long-term route delivers.

How to choose your next program after Onward

Choosing the right long-term program comes down to your goals. If you want to maximize career impact, a long-term Masa internship in your target field is the move; if your sights are set on tech, Fast Track Pro is purpose-built for it. Weigh the field you want real experience in, the city you want to live in (Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?), your timeline, and how the placement fits your longer career plans. When in doubt, talk it through with Masa — they can match your background and goals to the right long-term program — the smartest way to stay in Israel after Onward.

How to move from Onward into a long-term Masa program

Ready to keep going? The path is straightforward:

• Explore the long-term tracks. Browse Masa’s internship and career programs and find the field and city that fit you.
• Pick your track. For most Onward alumni that’s a long-term Masa internship in your field — or Fast Track Pro if you’re aiming at high-tech.
• Apply and get matched. Masa and its program partners help place you with an Israeli employer suited to your background and goals.
• Keep your momentum. Since you can continue directly with no waiting period, you can plan to roll straight from Onward into your program, grant included.

There’s no complicated hoop to jump through anymore. If you’re ready to stay in Israel after Onward, the long-term route is open and waiting.

What you’ll walk away with

Finish a long-term Masa internship and you don’t just have more time in Israel behind you — you have hard proof. Months of real work at an Israeli company, a portfolio of projects, references from a manager who watched you grow, a professional network across Tel Aviv, meaningfully better Hebrew, and a global circle of friends who did it alongside you. That’s a résumé and a story a two-month program simply can’t produce — and it’s what turns “I interned in Israel once” into a genuine career advantage that follows you for years.

Why go long-term now?

If Onward left you on the fence, here’s the case for going long-term sooner rather than later. You’re already here, already adjusted, already networked, and your Hebrew is warmed up — momentum you’d lose the moment you land back home. A long-term program capitalizes on all of it: you keep the friendships, keep the workplace relationships, and turn a promising start into real, sustained experience. Careers are built on runway, and right now you have it. The alumni who choose to stay in Israel after Onward and go long-term rarely regret it; the ones who head home often spend the next year figuring out how to get back.

You came to intern for a summer. Stay and launch a career.

Here’s the truth almost every Onward alum feels on the flight home: you didn’t just visit Israel, you worked here — and two months was only long enough to realize you want the real thing.

So take it. Imagine turning that summer internship into a full 4-to-10-month run: real responsibility at an Israeli company, a portfolio that turns heads back home, a professional network across Tel Aviv, Hebrew that finally clicks, and a genuine shot at a job offer — all while living the life you got a taste of on Onward. You already proved you can do it here, and thrive. This is the part where a summer internship becomes the launch of a real career.

So here’s the plan to stay in Israel after Onward the right way: pick the internship or Fast Track Pro track that fits your field, and keep your momentum going straight into it — grant included, no waiting. Your Onward internship was the introduction. A long-term Masa program is the main event — the months where a summer of interning becomes the start of a real career in Israel.

Find your Masa internship or career program →

Yalla — you didn’t come all this way just to stop at two months. Stay, or come back, and go all in.

FAQs About Staying in Israel After Onward

How long can you stay in Israel after Onward?

After your roughly two-month Onward program, you can travel for the remainder of your 90-day tourist visa, and extend it further through Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority. To stay and work for months, you’d move onto a long-term Masa program, which provides a visa for 4 to 10 months in Israel.

What is the best way to stay in Israel long-term after Onward?

A long-term Masa program — 4 to 10 months — is the best route, especially a Masa internship or Fast Track Pro, since Onward is internship-focused and these let you go deeper and build a real career. They include a visa, housing, community, and support.

Can you go from Onward directly into a Masa program?

Yes. You can continue straight from Onward into a long-term Masa program with no waiting period, and eligible participants receive a Masa grant on the long-term program. Going directly no longer costs you your funding.

Do you get a grant for a Masa program after Onward?

Yes. Eligible participants receive a Masa grant on a long-term Masa program, including when they continue directly from Onward. Most long-term programs also offer additional scholarships, and some include a stipend.

What kind of Masa programs should I do after Onward?

Long-term programs of 4 to 10 months, with internships being the natural fit given Onward’s internship focus. Masa Internship programs place you in a real Israeli company across many fields, and Fast Track Pro targets the high-tech sector for ambitious young professionals.

Do you need a visa to keep working in Israel after Onward?

Yes. A tourist visa allows travel but not employment, so you cannot keep interning or working on it. A long-term Masa program provides the proper visa to live and work in Israel legally for the length of the program.

Is it worth staying in Israel after Onward?

For career-minded young adults, absolutely. A long-term internship builds far more experience, network, and résumé value than a two-month program, and it often converts into a job offer — while letting you keep living the life you got a taste of on Onward.